Hi Folks,

Over the weekend, I had the extraordinary pleasure of traveling to the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Western Michigan, where my two older kids were finishing up a session.

Blue Lake educated over 5,000 kids each summer. More that 2/3 are helped by a vibrant scholarship fund, to which we as citizens contribute.

The camp is located in a forest near Lake Michigan. It's sort of in the middle of nowhere. When you enter, it's like the scene where Dorothy emerges from the house that's just fallen out of the sky, except instead of Munchkin Land, you're in Band Land.

In the following thread, I'll show some pictures from my trip.

This part of Michigan is popular with summer tourists because of the lake, and I was shut out of all the "normal" hotels.

So I stayed at a truly funky throwback American Motel. It had only about 10 rooms, and was run by a nice older couple.

The rooms had seen better days, and I found some of the signage so hilarious I just had to take pictures. Here's a shot of the sign near the room's heater.

Here's my setup in the bathroom to show you context.

Note the small with sign on the left hand side of the mirrors.

Here's what the sign says.

(I doubled over I was laughing so hard.)

OK, on to more serious things.

Here's a shot of the youngest band that my 12 year old played in.

They have three hours a day of full band rehearsal, and an hour each of sectionals and technique. In the evenings they're treated to concerts by professional artists and the staff puts on recitals. (There's free time for swimming and horsing around.)

In this shot you can see the wind band in the foreground and the string orchestra in the background.

Blue Lake also has full-time programs in Jazz and piano.

It's all music, all the time. There's absolutely no frills at Blue Lake. They keep costs down so as many kids as possible can attend.

One of their great resources is their outstanding outdoor concert hall. I estimate that the hall holds about 5,000 people when full.

The acoustics are simply fantastic.

Here's a shot of the roof structure.

On the final Sunday of the session, many parents and loved ones come to hear the concerts.

Here's the family that was in front of me.

I took this picture because I loved the texture of the hair of what I assume was Mom and her two little ones.

The camp hires legions of college music majors as counselors, section leaders, etc.

Here they are getting some of the recognicion they deserve from the audience.

They play a huge role in developing the music over the session.

The playing is absolutely phenomenal. What they teach these kids is worth millions. The quality is outstanding and most of the kids have transformative experiences.

Here's the Berstein Band (youngest kids: going into 7-8 grade) in full swing.

You can imagine the job of the band director.

This is I'm guessing about a 70-piece band.

THEY TOTALLY ROCKED.

Wouldn't you love to play for a director like this?

(The uniforms are mandatory and are meant to level the playing field because of the extraordinarily diverse economic backgrounds of the players.)

Here's the Red Band in performance later in the morning. They are high school kids. They play very demanding music and nail it.

Next time I'm feeling low, all I need to do is close my eyes and remember what these kids accomplished and sounded like with such a talented staff, and such a wonderful, inclusive environment and I will snap out of it.

Ken,
Thanks for the pictures. They really brought back some memories. Both of my sons attended summer music camps from the 4th grade to their High school senior years. To this day, my 32 and 27 year olds count those camps as some of the most meaningful experiences of their lives. Friendships that were forged then continue to last.

I had the privilege of teaching for several years at the Senior high camp and was always amazed at what was accomplished during 10 days of intense study and rehearsal.

Congratulations to you and your wife as parents for giving your children this opportunity.

Rick

Thank you Rick.

I'll bet you were a wonderful teacher.

Ken